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Alternatives to Dungeon Tiles?

Mercurius

Legend
I'm not a big fan of Dungeon Tiles, both for the messiness of having to keep them in ziploc bags, the hassle of sorting through to find the right piece, but mainly because they always have to approximate the dimensions of a space, especially for natural caverns.

I was watching Chris Perkins DMing the writers of Robot Chicken over at wizards.com and I really liked the map he used (although didn't like the fact that he had it just laying there on the table, the whole thing revealed to the players beforehand). I assume that he used some sort of white dry-erase map with permanent squares? I would like to use something similar, that I could "draw as you go."

Any other ideas? Other options?
 

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Tact-tiles would probably be up your alley. A chessex battlemat would probably do you good as well. Piazo puts out some preprinted mats that have many uses.

If you have the money, there's some folks that have set up projectors (mounted on the ceiling, pointing down) to display maps on the game table - when coupled with a PC. I've also tried using a LCD display (laid on its back) to project a map, but you have to be careful about spilled drinks. Also, there's a group that is designing a "map table" for the microsoft surface - but you're talking big bucks there.

Personally, though I like Dungeon Tiles for how fast they can be laid out (if you have them organized, in say a tackle box), I prefer Dwarven Forge or Worldwork Games printable cardstock tiles for their great looks. The latter has some ingenious methods for storing and setting up the pieces really quickly (tacking them to a wall or corkboard for storage, and a velcro mat for quick setup).

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Edit: if you want a do-it-yourself project, you could buy one of those cheap poster frames at Walmart or such as a base. Take the clear plastic "glass" and draw a grid up on it with permanent marker. You can then print out maps and place it under the "glass" for an instant battlemat. If you print stuff out ahead, you could "reveal" a room at a time fairly quickly. It would probably work best if you could elevate the "glass" slightly so you could quickly slip the map in underneath without having to disturb the miniatures on top.

Also, you could do quick setups with dungeon tiles - get a thin piece of cardboard and some rubber cement. Before the game, use a few drops of the rubber cement to temporarily affix the tiles to the cardboard. When players enter a new area, you simply lay down the new area. When you no longer need it, you should be able to easily remove the tiles from the cardboard without damaging them.

Also, on the "regular shape for irregular rooms" - there is a cavern set for the tiles OR, assuming you can get an extra set or two, a pair of scissors/x-acto knife applied to the tiles can be used to make you some custom pieces or edges that could be used for making caverns or unusual shaped rooms (such as round rooms, or rooms with slanted walls).

You could also set down the dungeon beforehand by whatever method you want and using paper or a cloth covering over the whole thing, reveal the dungeon in sections without giving away the whole structure at once. Just be careful to not make each covering the exact same size/shape as the part you're revealing.
 
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I use a blank Paizo flip-mat, or else one of their pre-drawn flip-mats with added features either drawn by me or denoted by individual Dungeon Tiles.
 


Is the Eyclops projector toy bright enough to use to project a still image onto a white table?

Right now I'm a big fan of heroscape tiles in 4e, which work very well for portraying both hexes and elevation. It is great for portraying outdoor terrain. I've used it to portray the caverns of the Naga King, a duergar ambush in the gully outside the entrance to Thunderspire Labyrinth, and a battle with trolls in a swamp filled with sinkholes.
 


I use a 36" printer.

Its not as crazy as it sounds. The printer is expensive, but we needed that one anyway. The ink is cheap.
 

I think the map they're using in the Robot Chicken game is one of the Dungeons and Dragons branded wet erase mats.

They are almost the exact same thing as a Chessex Battlemat.

I use a Chessex mat along with DragonTiles printable tiles and EZ Dungeons 3D paper foldups from Fat Dragon Games. They're fun to print out and construct, and they add a fun 3D element to the tabletop.

I also have some of the Paizo flip mats and they work great too, but the creases in the fold up maps sometimes cause some some issues with minis tipping over.
 

Edit: if you want a do-it-yourself project, you could buy one of those cheap poster frames at Walmart or such as a base. Take the clear plastic "glass" and draw a grid up on it with permanent marker. You can then print out maps and place it under the "glass" for an instant battlemat. If you print stuff out ahead, you could "reveal" a room at a time fairly quickly. It would probably work best if you could elevate the "glass" slightly so you could quickly slip the map in underneath without having to disturb the miniatures on top.

If you do this, make sure the permenant marker grid is on the backside - the chemical in erasable markers that makes them erasable also makes permenant markers erasable when you draw across them.
 

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